The Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics 2026 were among the most exciting sporting events we’ve watched. Norway was the most impressive country by far, winning 41 medals in total. That being said, every country brought out its best, most competitive winter athletes.

We got to see records broken, legends of their sports making history, and young athletes making a name for themselves. Looking back at the 16 days of winter Olympic glory, we decided to research the most inspiring young winter Olympians. These are our choices!

Eileen Gu

Eileen Gu is one of the most impressive people you will ever read about. She is a Chinese freestyle skier, model, spokesperson, and Laureus Award winner. She is only 22 years old, and she has already won six Olympic medals, including three golds and three silvers. On top of that, Eileen has two golds and a bronze at the World Championships, and three golds and a bronze at the X Games.

On top of her very impressive career as a winter athlete, Gu is a student at Stanford, majoring in international relations. When it comes to her modeling career, you can often find her in campaigns for Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co., Porsche, Red Bull, and Victoria’s Secret. Her success on the slopes and off them makes Eileen one of the most inspiring young winter Olympians.

Laila Edwards

Laila Edwards is poised to become one of the leaders of the U.S. Women’s National Ice Hockey Team. She is only 21 years old, and she has already won a gold medal, having scored 2 and assisted 8 goals. She was one of the key players in the U.S. team’s journey to the gold medal at the winter Olympics, especially against mighty Canada.

Apart from her success at the Olympics, Edwards has won one gold and one silver medal at the World Championships. In the 2024-25 collegiate season, Laila scored an incredible 35 points, leading all scorers in the NCAA. On top of that, she’s won two National Collegiate Women’s Ice Hockey Championships. All of these accomplishments on the ice, as well as the fact that she became the first black woman to play for the U.S. women’s ice hockey team, make her incredibly inspiring.

Mikhail Shaidorov

Mikhail Shaidorov was the biggest surprise of this year’s Winter Olympics. While everyone was expecting Malinin, Kagiyama, or Sato to triumph, young Shaidorov came out of nowhere. He got a solid score of 92.94 in the short program, which got him the fifth spot. And then came the free skate program, and Shaidorov made history. He skated to The Diva Dance to earn 198.64, which was the best free skate score, and got him the gold medal.

Mikhail Shaidorov is one of the most inspiring young winter Olympians because he is only 21 years old. Despite his young age, he became the first, and thus far only, Kazakh figure skater to win gold. Even though the media and the crowd had other favorites, he went on the ice and dazzled everybody, etching his name in history.

Alysa Liu

Alysa Liu was undoubtedly the most popular athlete at the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics. Alysa is on our list of the most inspiring young winter Olympians because of her story of resilience and dedication to joy. While this figure skater had very early success, skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics at only 16 years old, she walked away from the sport.

After returning to skating at 18, everybody counted Alysa Liu out. But, she returned to skating because it was something that brought her joy. She set very strict boundaries with her coaches, she chose the music she was skating to, and it paid off. She walked away with two golds, one in the women’s figure skating competition and one in the team event. During all her performances, Alysa exuded love and joy for the sport, setting a shining example for young people everywhere.